10 Tips for EdTech Budget Planning
Whether you’re a classroom teacher, specialist teacher, or school leader deciding on the most suitable EdTech tools to help support successful learning outcomes for your students is an opportunity for reflection and goal-setting. So here are 10 tips for schools when planning ahead:
- Review exisiting EdTech tools – consider what worked well, and what could have been better.
- Set priorities for the year ahead.
- Review priorities and consider available resources, people, training, and support.
- Consider ways to address STEM learning across the school.
- Consult with your colleagues. Ask them for recommendationsÂ
- Review opportunities to develop students’ design thinking skills, critical thinking, creativity, confidence in ICT, and spatial reasoning skills (an important indicator of future STEM success).
- Consider available EdTech tools. Are they backed by research? Do they align with curriculum and your school’s priorities? Do they include planning, teaching and assessment tools? Do they come with helpful resources and guides? Are their reviews positive?
- Consider how to best use EdTech tools within a school, or across a class or classes.
- Get quotes from EdTech providers, and chat to them about your needs and budget.
- Decide on your EdTech tools and purchase or renew them for the year ahead.
Teachers Share Tips for Choosing an EdTech Tool
We asked two teachers from our community for their tips choosing an EdTech tool.
Gary Romeo, ICT Leader & Mathematics Leader at St Margaret’s Primary School and Makers Empire ambassador, says, “consider the following:
- The purpose of and context in which the app can be utilised in a school/classroom setting.
- The benefit and added value for students in terms of their wellbeing and learning outcomes.
- The financial implications for the school/organisation – always make an informed choice!”
Gary also recommends seeking suggestions and advice from colleagues.
“Survey and seek information from other schools of what they use and how they use it to develop ideas for apps suitable for your school,” Gary suggests.
Gary also advises making use of available integrations to save time and help with classroom management.
“Adding Google Classroom in and its integration with other programs (like Makers Empire) adds a great organisational element to support classroom teachers to plan and teach great lessons for their students,” he says.
Melissa Perez-Heydrich, Technology Director at Triangle Day School, and Makers Empire consultant, told us “when selecting Ed Tech Tools, the technology and administrative team look at several factors at our school, including student learning goals, student engagement, privacy policies in order to keep our students’ data secure and safe, vendor rapport, accessibility features, and whether it’s user friendly for students and teachers.”
Melissa also emphasises the need to consider curriculum alignment and built-in features.
“We also look for tools that are research-based and aligned with the current standards. We prefer to use tools that have monitoring and reporting in order to assess and reflect on how students are utilizing these tools at our school,” she adds.
Lastly, Melissa stresses that teacher feedback should be considered.
“There are some amazing and effective tools out there, and it can be difficult to find the right one for your school, but I’ve found that communicating with other schools in your community can help give you ideas and feedback about what have or have not worked for them,” she says.
Roadmap to Integrating 3D Technology into a School
Wondering how to integrate 3D printing and 3D design into your school effectively and efficiently to improve student performance and enhance learning? We’ve helped thousands of teachers transform learning with 3D printing and design so we know what works and what doesn’t.
We’ve prepared a roadmap to 3D printing and design in primary, elementary and middle schools to help ensure your 3D printing journey is a successful one. Follow these steps to ensure a positive and rewarding 3D printing experience for your school community.
